Education for a Twice Exceptional (Gifted + Learning Disabled) Child

By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D

Q:
In our public school gifted children are not given therapy
for things like handwriting difficulties or sensory
integration issues unless they get to a point where they are
failing. My son, who started reading without being taught at
age 2 1/2 and was reading beyond a third grade level by
kindergarten and doing addition and subtraction with some
multiplication too. Because he wouldn't or couldn't color in
the lines or draw very well (due to visual motor integration
problems and hypotonia) the Kindergarten teacher recommended
that he go to a transitional first grade (a year in between
kindergarten and first grade) to give him an extra year to
develop fine motor skills with no accommodations for
giftedness (she didn't feel that he needed to learn anything
since he was so far ahead academically) and no therapy for
motor problems.

At the time of the T-1 recommendation (right before he
turned 6) we had already scheduled a test at the school to
see if he could skip first grade. He didn't quite make the
90% required to skip, but he made what ordinarily would have
been considered passing scores on what should have been an
end of first grade level test. I was then told by a teacher
and the principal that I needed to homeschool.

After homeschooling for one year, spending about two hours a
day on school work, he was tested by a certified educational
psychologist, and an individual achievement test showed my
son to be grade levels ahead of his age mates in reading,
comprehension, and math (4th grade) even with visual motor
integration at the 1% level and vision issues that required
vision therapy. The gifted coordinator for our state said
that the school is not required to offer therapy of any kind
for kids who are above grade level and the school would also
probably not be required to provide any kind of
accommodations for his mild disability. At school, he would
struggle with the amount of writing and would be held back
because of it. At home, he types instead of doing a lot of
writing and this works well for him and allows him to learn
at his level.

He is now nine with a May birthday and by age should be
going into 4th grade but he is reading and comprehending the
adult National Geographic magazine and speaks using a more
advanced vocabulary than some of his older gifted friends.
He is interested in learning about a lot of different
things, including psychology and some teenaged friends in
his musical theater class predict that he will be a college
professor some day. He would not fit well in a regular 4th
grade class and smart kids at this school are bullied.

What is an appropriate education for a twice exceptional
child like mine?

Is it appropriate for gifted kids to be held back for
physical difficulties without being given any kind of help
for those issues and also no accommodation for the
giftedness?

Is there any harm in letting a twice exceptional child go to
school with age mates with no accommodations for physical
and mental age differences?

A: This is indeed so
unfortunate for a child with so much to learn and offer.
These are kids who are intellectually gifted; at the same
time have special needs such as ADHD, learning disabilities,
Asperger Syndrome, etc. These children have a hard time in
the education system due to the fact that their giftedness
can actually mask their special needs and more focus is
given to their weaknesses/disabilities rather than their
abilities. This is also because their learning difficulties
hide their giftedness. Unfortunately, it does not come as a
surprise when they are frequently labeled as being lazy,
unmotivated, and difficult. In fact, most teachers do not
even realize that a child can be both gifted and learning
disabled.

From what you have described, you are certainly doing the
right thing with the limited resources that is available.
Home schooling is a very good option for a child like this
especially since public schooling does not offer much help
here. Unfortunately, there is so much that the school can
do, with the number of students with varying ability and
limited resources. The teachers too may not be well equipped
to handle such children. Accelerating is an option, but as
you have mentioned, he may be bullied and that may affect
his socio-emotional development.

The best education for your son would be one which
recognizes and develops his giftedness and at the same time
help him to work on his difficult areas. This can be a very
customized education plan as every child with a learning
difficulty needs a tailor-made IEP. This may not be possible
in public schools; private treatment may be very expensive –
which leaves the option of home schooling. Having said that,
it is not at all easy to home school a twice exceptional
child. Parents need to put in a lot of effort, time and
equip themselves with the latest.

It is indeed not fair to hold back any child without
addressing the problem, but this is something that the
school needs to work out with the parents. In this case,
there is probably no teacher in the school who is prepared
to put in that extra mile, or most likely, this is a
challenge most may not be prepared to take. Being a minority
group and often only noticed due to their difficulties,
public schools may not be a very suitable environment for
them.

To allow a twice exceptional child go to school with peers
and having no accommodations for physical and mental age
differences, certainly may not seem like a good idea. But if
there is a teacher who is willing to go that extra mile,
this can be made possible. However, there are very few such
teachers.

You may need to get the school to refer you to someone in
authority in the district education department to see how
they can accommodate your son. You may need to move him to
another school that may cater for his needs. Explore the
options by talking to other parents with similar problems.

You may find the following websites on twice exceptional
children very useful: